Working with Flagstone

How to work heavy and uneven stones into a practical and beautiful floor

WORKING
WITH
FLAGSTONE
by Carl Hagstrom
Few materials offer the beauty, durability,
and tire resistance of a stone
floor. A good run of stone can be almost
as smooth as tile.
In northeast Pennsylvania we are
blessed with an abundance of a
flagstone we call bluestone because of
its bluish-grey color. The quarrymen
blast down to a flat table of stone, where
individual stones are cut and removed,
using a mobile wet diamond saw and
wedges.
The standard sizes range from 1x1 to
2x3 feet, in 6-inch increments. The
stones are cut a half inch short of their
nominal dimensions, to allow for mortar
joints. Thickness ranges from ¾
inch for smaller stones to 3 inches for
the largest. Stones can be